As a woman, a lot of stories haven't been told and we've got a lot of catching up to do.

I felt that the biological clock was some myth to keep me from doing what I wanted to do. And so I rebelled against it in the '90s. I thought it was a backlasher, some sort of faulty data. But it's real. I'm glad I woke up before my body was just like 'uh-uh.

I tried to do the commercial thing. But I don't want to keep shoving Twinkies down everyone's throat. People are hungry for something of more substance.

There's been a slow death in a way. On the positive side, there are films getting into the Academy Awards that wouldn't have, but on the negative side, financiers are now dominant and making all the decisions. I can't count the ways a director's vision is compromised.

I see my job as an actor to be as good a channel as I can be. Acting is a gift, and I have respect for it.

To do work that's not going to be fulfilling doesn't make sense.

When it's working, what acting is really about is getting into the essence of a moment in a creative, joyous way - through whatever frees you up.